Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 107
107 the soldiers. So , when it was time to distribute those possessions, the c ompanions ra said, “O Prophet sa of Allah ! A woman also participated in this [battle]. S hould a portion be taken out for her as well ?” The Holy Prophet sa replied, “ Yes. ” The Holy Prophet sa acknowledged the woman’s service and her share was given. So, as long as the primary responsibilities [o f a woman] are met, which are the upbringing of children and their monitoring, Shariah allows women to do extra wor k. The Exemplary Character of Ha z rat A’isha h ra Take education, for example. Ha z rat A’isha h ra progressed in this [area] so greatly that the Holy Prophet sa once said to the c ompanions ra , “Y ou c an learn half of the religion from A’isha h ra. ” The term ‘half the religion’ does not mean that she had extra knowledge of the directives regarding prayers or fasting , etc. What the Holy Prophet sa meant was that Ha z rat A’isha h ra fully understood the commandments of Shariah , particularly in regard to women. Therefore, those who needed answers to issues concerning women would ask Ha z rat A’isha h ra and their problem s would be solved. Thus, Hazrat A’isha h ra possessed such an extent of information of the rights, responsibilities, and matters relating to women that even men did not possess such understanding. It is for this reason that the Holy Prophet sa said t o learn this portion [of religion] from A’isha h ra for A’isha h ra , due to her nature and ability , can remember more of it. Thus, any concerns the c ompanions ra had o n issues regarding women, they would ask Ha z rat A’isha h ra and would inquire what the Holy Prophet sa taught regarding those [issues]. Therefore , women have always played a role in matters of education. Women’s Greatest Responsibility But the greatest job assigned to women is that of proper training; that is to raise children to become true and good Muslims. There are many women who think that this is not a job. However, if we ponder over thi s , [we can see that] whatever destruction has come about in the world, has occurred because of the lack of proper training of the future generations. W henever a nation has progressed, it has been because the future generation s are good. And [the nation’s] next step only headed towards destruction whe n its next generation was corrupted.